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What will our new generation of wired-in babies bring?
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And you thought you were keeping up with the times and technology? Move over. Toddlers have become more comfortable and adept than ever using smartphones and tablets, the Washington Times reports.
A new medical study reveals that the tiniest Americans are tapping on smartphones and tablets even before they learn to walk or talk, and by 1 year of age, one in seven toddlers is using devices for at least an hour a day.
It’s become second nature—and the new nanny for them. Over a third of babies are now using smart phones.
The research found that even a third of the babies under a year could scroll down the screen, while a fourth managed to actually call someone.
“We didn’t expect children were using the devices from the age of 6 months. Some children were on the screen for as long as 30 minutes,” says Dr. Hilda Kabali, lead author of the study, which was conducted among 370 parents and their babies at a pediatrics clinic in the Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia.
Mobile devices are also becoming babysitters. Dr. Kabali found that 60 percent of the parents in the study allowed their toddlers to play with mobile media when it was time to run errands, almost three fourths did the same while they did chores. Another 65 percent used the device to “calm the child”, a third used it to put the child to sleep.
“By 1 year of age, 14 percent of children were spending at least one hour per day using mobile media, 26 percent by age 2, and 38 percent by age 4. Only 30 percent of parents reported discussing media use with their child’s pediatrician,” the study found.
This is the next generation that will be brought up and nurtured on technology, robots, artificial intelligence, social media and the rapid flow of information. We can only wonder what this new wired-in generation will be bringing to us in the future once they grow up.
by Skippy Massey
This post originally appeared on the Humboldt Sentinel. Reprinted with permission.
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Photo: Getty Images